New Year Nightmare: Woman Collapses 12 Minutes Into 2023 But Miraculous CPR Saves Her Life
Party Turns Horrific
On January 1, 2023, Frances Williamson from Borrowash was ringing in the new year with friends and family. The mood was light as everyone watched Big Ben chime on TV and sang Auld Lang Syne.
But just 12 minutes into 2023, disaster struck. Frances collapsed suddenly onto the kitchen floor, leaving party guests stunned.
Life-Saving Quick Action
Frances recalls: “I had no warning signs. No chest pain or anything to suggest I was about to collapse. I was chatting with a friend in the kitchen when I just went down.”
Luck was on her side. Off-duty Clinical Assessment Team paramedic Vicky Gough was at the party. Hearing the shout “Vicky, Fran’s collapsed!” she immediately sprang into clinical mode.
“She was breathing but unconscious, so I put her in recovery position,” said Vicky. “Then she started shaking and gagging before stopping breathing altogether. She’d gone into cardiac arrest.”
Vicky and Frances’s daughter-in-law Kate launched into CPR while someone called 999. A second emergency call was made as Frances’s condition worsened.
Rapid Response From Specialist Paramedic
An urgent open-mic alert summoned Specialist Practitioner and Cardiac Arrest Lead Kerri Lowe, who dropped her meal break to race two minutes away.
“Thanks to the CPR by Vicky and Kate, Frances’s heart was in a shockable rhythm,” said Kerri. “I delivered one shock with the defibrillator and could literally see her heart beating again. Their fast action absolutely saved her life.”
Frances suffered an ‘Utstein cardiac arrest’ – a witnessed cardiac arrest with immediate CPR and defibrillator use, crucial for survival within four minutes.
Hospital Care and Emotional Reunion
- Backed by paramedics Wayne Rowland, Matthew Lawman and Jodie Paskin, Frances was rushed to Royal Derby Hospital for lifesaving treatment including heart stents.
- Paramedic Jodie said: “Cardiac arrests always give you a flutter in your chest. My immediate focus was comforting Frances’s daughter, who was witnessing this traumatic event for the first time.”
- Matt Lawman reassured: “Frances’s heart was beating but she was unconscious. We maintained her breathing until hospital.”
A Grateful Survivor’s Message
Now on the road to recovery, Frances warmly welcomed the ambulance crew who saved her life.
“Meeting them was emotional. I can’t thank them enough — if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here. I’m amazed at my daughter-in-law Kate too, who had never done CPR before but kept it up until help arrived.”
Frances stresses the importance of CPR training: “A cardiac arrest can happen to anyone. That’s why CPR education is vital.”
